The Yankees Aren’t Interested In Max Scherzer? Not So Fast

Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports recently wrote a column outlining why HE believes the New York Yankees are in on free agent pitcher and former Detroit Tigers’ ace, Max Scherzer. I’m glad he voiced his opinion in public, because his reasoning for his beliefs are similar to mine: the Yankees always have the last word…always. 

More from Yankees News

• Yankees chose worst possible player to ring in New Year on 2023 team calendar
• Yankees make upside play, sign former Rangers top prospect outfielder
• Michael Kay’s Anthony Volpe story will get Yankees fans amped for Opening Day
• No, Yankees should not acquire Trevor Bauer for 2023
• Yankees’ Marwin González replaces Red Sox LF in Japan in logical next step

I’ve thought all along that despite Brian Cashman’s and Randy Levine’s constant statements saying that Scherzer is not on thee team’s radar, I’m not buying it for one second. We’re talking the New York Yankees. We’re also talking about Scherzer’s agent, Scott Boras. The Bombers have dealt with the necessary evil that is Boras for years. He may not be beloved in the Bronx or by the Yankees’ front office, he brings the goods, pure and simple. Scott Boras doesn’t represent garbage. He represents superstar baseball players who are looking to get paid as such.

As Morosi so valiantly pointed out, and I’ve had these same conversations with many members of the staff here at Yanks Go Yard, I only have to mention one name: Mark Teixeira, and my staff immediately knows what I am referencing. You see, for those of you that need a quick history lesson about how the Yankees have done business in recent years, when they want something, they get it. Say they were outbid for Robinson Cano all you want. If the Yankees wanted to keep Cano, he’d still be a Yankee. Same goes for many others that media and fans wonder why the team didn’t make more effort to keep, such as David Roberston or Brandon McCarthy, or hell, even Hiroki Kuroda, but that is bottom scraping if you ask me.

No, it was during that winter of 2008, after the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas (which I attended for my personal blog, WestCoastYankees-The Blog), that you never heard the Yankees and Teixeira mentioned a whole lot other than passing interest. The Yankees were never considered serious contenders for the first baseman. Teams such as the Boston Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Anaheim Angels were the heavy favorites to sign the switch-hitter with the sweet leather.

No, the Yankees were busy reloading their starting rotation in Las Vegas, first signing C.C. Sabathia and then A.J. Burnett. To most in Yankeeland, Teixeira was a perfect dream that even the money printing factory at Yankee Stadium couldn’t afford could they?

There has been much made in recent days, including this website about how Fangraphs are calling the Yankees an 83-win team with a rotation of Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, and someone else in the fifth spot until Ivan Nova returns. The addition of Scherzer not only gives the Yankees ace 1-A to go along with Tanaka, but he gives them star power. He gives them the Major League strikeout leader in each of the past three seasons. I understand that his velocity has dropped in each of the past two seasons, but he has also had a solid ERA atop the Tigers’ rotation.

As Morosi also points out in his piece, Teixeira was not in the Yankees budget, and later after signing him, Brian Cashman stated that the Yankees had a “deviation from their plan…because of an exceptional opportunity.” Supposedly, the New Age Yankees want to get young and cheaper, and thus far, they’ve lived by that mentality, but with Scott Boras involved, knowing that the Yankees will get a call one way or another towards the end of any negotiation with any team, Red Sox owner John Henry put it best when he told the Associated Press:

"“There was no mention of the Yankees, but we felt all along that they were going to get the last call. That’s what you deal with in working with Scott.”"

That ladies and gentlemen, is the reality of the world the New York Yankees operate in. Below the radar, and when they want something, they ALWAYS get it. Just sayin’.